NYFW: MISHA NONOO S/S 2015

I was thinking about taking a break. After all, I’m on hour 13 of today’s wonderfulness. I’m existing on coffee and m&m’s at this point because I don’t have time to fix or retrieve real food. But then, I got this tip that there was going to be a very special model walking in the Nonoo show. How special? Unlike anything we’d see the rest of NYFW, I was promised.

So, I take my seat and the show starts. First piece was a white jumper with halter top. Beautiful. White. Summery. Watch out for barbecue sauce. Second piece, short, white shift dress with an apron (as though one would actually do any work in such a thing). Cute. Pieces 3-5: more white. So far, a very pleasant and clean collection, but no faces that caught my attention.

Next came the prints; soft, beautiful, multi-colored prints. Okay, there was almost a wardrobe malfunction with one of the halter tops, but that just happens some times. Powder blue pieces came next, then another set of prints this time kind of floral and abstract. These were followed by the most pale pink possible. I cannot imagine where Ms. Nonoo found such a very light pink, but she did. These really are delightful little pieces, all short enough one could possibly play tennis while wearing them, I suppose. Although, I never played tennis so I wouldn’t know.

Following the very pale pink came a set done in a metallic rose. These are quite nice, good for a night out. Still very short, but this is a summer collection so the high hem is totally acceptable. More prints come next, this time with a purple top and floral …

WOAH! THERE’S A DUDE ON THE CATWALK!

That would be the surprise. Dustin Yellin, a contemporary artist based in Brooklyn, is there in all his bearded glory wearing one of Sasha’s little short-skirted dresses, drinking his frappuccino while walking down the runway in white pointed-toed heels with mismatched striped socks. I’ve seen a lot of strange and interesting things on runways before, but that was one sight that certainly caught me, and pretty much everyone else by surprise. I’m just going to assume that Mr. Yellin and Ms. Nonoo are very good friends. After all, not too many very hairy young men are willing to walk down a runway in a short dress and heels for a perfect stranger. Although, this is New York. Still …

The rest of the collection? For the few that were still paying attention at the point (Yellin rather stole the show), there were four more slightly formal pieces, two in dark blue and two in bright purple. The blues had just a touch of shimmer. The purple had the apron thing going again, but in a more elegant, I’m-not-here-to-work sort of way. Or maybe that’s a purse. I’m not sure. I was still rather shell-shocked at this point.

You know, we can really get jaded watching fashion show after fashion show. We don’t expect surprises and when they do occur we seldom know how to react to them. People are going to be talking about the dude on the runway, in a very short dress, for quite some time. We hope they remember Sasha Nonoo’s name when they do. The move was as brilliant as the collection is wearable.